Soon after we moved to Jakarta, when my sister was in town (the belle) and I was still very pregnant (the belly) , we decided to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the Big Durian, and embark on a trip to the well-renowned beach resort of Bali.

After doing some research, we opted to stay at Nusa Dua beach. A beach full of family friendly resorts, lots of shopping, and not much else! We stayed at the Westin Resort located in the middle of Nusa Dua. When we arrived, we were greeted by Gamelan music and Evan even got a chance to play a tune. The hotel was everything it claimed to be, beautiful and very kid-friendly. They had a small pool where Evan spent hours and hours swimming and a nice beach area where my sister spent hours working on her tan. Even though the beach was quite nice, the ocean wasn’t! Perhaps we visited in the wrong time of the year but there was low tide and to be able to get even close to swimming in the ocean, we had to walk over 70 meters of craters and seaweed. Not exactly my idea of fun with a little one in tow.

So, we did most of the swimming in the pools at the hotel, which was great. They had a seawater pool, a kiddy pool and a nice big warm pool where we spent most of our days. When we decided we were tired of the pool we were able to rent bikes to ride around the beach. This was one of the highlights of our trip as Nusa Dua is very biker-friendly! Evan rode on a seat in Daddy’s bike and got upset every time we stopped. He loved feeling the wind on his face.  During our bike ride we discovered several small beaches that were much more swimmable and beautiful views of Bali.

When we got tired of eating at the hotel, we headed to Bali Collection, an outdoor shopping center in the midst of the resorts. This was a great place to get our Starbucks fix and shop for souvenirs. The free hotel shuttle made it easy to get there and back to the hotel.

The evening before we left we headed to the Uluwatu temple, a Balinese Hindu Temple by a hill. All I can say about this place is beware of the monkeys! They are mean and they will take away any food you have in your hands. A highlight of this visit was the Balinese Kecak Dance show. We thought Evan would get scared by the fire and chanting, but he actually sat still for most of the presentation.

Bali was a fun trip and we hope to do it again this time with Josh outside my belly.